Buena Borough Council held a special meeting Wednesday afternoon with officials from Vineland and Franklin to discuss one or the other taking over police coverage in the borough.(Photo: Joseph P. Smith/Staff Writer)

BUENA - Residents now have some answers after months of speculation on what borough officials are contemplating as the future of police coverage.

The Borough Council opened what was to be a closed session special meeting Wednesday afternoon to the public as it heard proposals from the city of Vineland and the township of Franklin to assume police responsibilities here.

What is driving the interest in a shared service agreement is the borough’s financial situation.

“I’ve stated this before, but I want to explain how I believe that we got to this point,” Mayor David Zappariello said at the meeting. “When I became mayor, I requested from our auditor to provide a five-year projection for our financial position out to 2020.

“Let me be honest,” the mayor added. “It is a dire picture. And it has been stated many times Buena Borough does not have a spending problem. We have a revenue problem. There simply is not enough commercial ratables that can ease the burdens of the residential taxpayer.”

The meeting in council chambers, which ran more than 90 minutes, by design avoided definitive answers on key points.

No cost figures were revealed during the presentations or in follow-up questioning. Written proposals from Vineland and Franklin were deemed confidential and not released, as well.

Additionally, what exactly happens to borough police officers’ employment was discussed only generally at the advice of borough legal counsel Salvatore Perillo. But as Councilman Jeffrey Marolda said, while pressing for commitments, there is no “guarantee” of any borough officer being hired by Vineland or Franklin.

Buena police have longstanding relationships with both Vineland and Franklin police, and officials from both communities stressed that and their geographical proximity in their sales pitches.

The two departments, otherwise, have very different profiles.

Vineland is a very large department, though it has 20 positions it hopes to fill in August, with a number of specialty units. It also has its own 9-1-1 center.

Vineland believes it can cover Buena even at its reduced strength, Capt. Adam Austino told the council and Mayor David Zappariello.

Franklin has a relatively small police force that also has positions to fill. Township Administrator Nancy Kennedy Brent put the number of vacancies at five, while adding that Buena officers will get hiring priority.

A possible edge for the township is that Franklin already provides a municipal court for Buena. Brent said that the shared service runs a profit that she believes would increase if the township assumed police coverage.

Besides Austino, who did the initial presentation, Vineland sent to the meeting police Chief Rudy Beu, Lt. Steven Triantos, Lt. Lene Bowers and Sgt. Shane Harris. No elected officials from Vineland attended, but Public Safety Director Edwin Alicea did.

The Franklin team included Chief Brian Zimmer and Capt. Gordon Muller. Township Committee members Leah Vassallo and Dave Deegan also attended. Deegan is deputy mayor and public safety director.

Vineland made its proposal first.

“We’re very, very similar in demographics,” Austino said. “We have a lot of officers that actually grew up in Buena, who are from Buena, that transferred from the Buena Police Department and actually work in our police department now. But in everything but population and area, the two towns are almost identical, including in per capita income, racial ethnic breakdowns.”

Answering a question from Marolda, Austino said the daily assignment of officers to patrol areas always would start with an officer for Buena and then to areas in Vineland.

“The proposal we’ve come up with is it would be just like another beat area in the city of Vineland,” he said. “And an officer would always be assigned to the beat area.”

Councilman Jorge Alvarez, who is Buena public safety chairman, asked about the availability of officers to back up an officer who gets bogged down with a case.

“Definitely more than one officer would be assigned to the area here,” Beu said. “Buena would receive the same service that the citizens of Vineland receive. No less, no more. We would consider them part of our community.”

To a question from Councilman Greg McAvaddy, Beu said he sees no need to man the borough police station and that to do so would require more officers.

“If I have an officer sitting in a building, it doesn’t increase response time,” Beu said. “It actually decreases it.”

On hiring Buena officers, Beu told Marolda he could not comment now but “in another setting, I think I’d be able to quell your fears on that.”

Franklin officials also said their proposed agreement would post an officer in Buena at all times.

Zimmer said his intent is that Buena keep its “identity.”

“We’re just coming in to help you and your residents,” Zimmer said. “Pick up your National Night Out. Coffee with a Cop. Anything that we do, we want to offer it down here, too.”

Buena has operated under a lieutenant rather than a chief in recent years. Lt. Lawrence Petrillo attended but did not speak.

Retired chief Doug Adams did speak and described closing the department as a mistake.

“I’m not here to take anything away from those agencies,” Adams said. “I’m here to tell you that, as a resident and former Buena cop, I don’t want to see us lose our police department. Everything that they (Vineland and Franklin) say that they can do, they can do and they can do it better.

"But you just can’t match what a local police Department can give you," he said. "There’s a lot of discussion to that. There’s a belief that we will lose something, even though these bigger agencies are bringing other things in.”

Adams suggested looking at whether the budget could be cut while keeping the department intact or a part-time department, similar to Elmer Borough.

Zappariello said finances make a change necessary but added he would be “hard pressed” to sign an agreement that did not include jobs for borough officers.

"I wasn't elected to sit up here to run a meeting a couple times a month," Zappariello said. "I was elected to make tough decisions and I am prepared to do that. Ladies and gentlemen, Buena Borough has reached its tipping point.

"If I can impress upon you one thing today, that would be that this council is looking for solutions to some very complex issues," he said. "You've trusted this council with your vote. Now, trust us to look for solutions that have the best interests of everyone in Buena Borough, including the police department, our staff, and especially you, the taxpayer."

Council members absent for the meeting were Joseph Mancuso, who was out of state, and Matthew Walker Sr.